Sooqini PR Intern

I will share with you some insights regarding my latest PR work experience which meant working for www.sooqini.com . Sooqini is a location-based reverse mobile marketplace. Just to get an idea – the reverse marketplace would mean that the customers would ask for services or goods rather than a company trying to sell its products and seek for the right audience. Sooqini is a space where individuals or companies can go and fulfil anyone’s requests on the go and of course, make money. Sooqini is a new start-up that has been officially launched this summer.

The campaign team included Sooqini Commercial Director – Tiago Mateus, Andrei Philip Iacob and myself. Before going any further it is worth mentioning the steps that we followed before launching the PR activity. The core elements were: positioning – we had to understand where are we now, then we had to decide on the main objectives, followed by the strategy/tactics that have to be applied. It also included managing the resources that we could use, like money and manpower. At that point Soqini was in need of getting more publicity and more activity on the website.

The main objectives were to raise awareness within the early adopters and show to the audience how you could make use of Sooqini and get anything from your local community in a safe and comfortable way.
In order to achieve what we have decided to give a real life example. We have appointed Jennifer Arcuri to be locked for 27 hrs in Victoria hair salon (Znips) – she has presumably lost a bet. Sooqini users had to fulfil her requests like: bringing Jennifer the lunch, a belly-dancer to entertain her.

If you now feel the need for a visual illustration of what happened please feel free to have a look at the pictures and videos posted below.The entire social experiment was live-streamed online on Justin TV http://www.justin.tv/sooqini
The event was supported by a high Twitter activity, for more details and analysis it might be worth checking the #helpjensurvive hashtag. Before the event took place we have recorded a pre-launch video with Jennifer insistently asking for help to survive. Enjoy watching it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqxV8yJEbJA . Besides that, the team had intensively pitched journalists and bloggers.

Out of curiosity you are more than welcome to check the media release which is posted below. You are invited now to share your thoughts. Tell us what could have been done better or any other suggestions will be kindly accepted.

On The 9th of September 2012, Jennifer Arcuri, who has declared her candidacy for the position of CEO of Tech City, will be locked up in a Victoria Hair salon for 27 hours, with nothing to help her other than Sooqini.

After losing a bet, Ms. Arcuri will be stripped of her ability to carry on her daily duties and will only be able to survive by using Sooqini, an online mobile marketplace. Ms. Arcuri said: “ I never thought I was going to lose that bet, but here I am. Not only that, everything is going to be streamed online via a webcam at http://sooqini.com/helpjensurvive.html. I will need to rely on Sooqini for 27 hours and I hope that people can help me make it through.” Jen’s progress can also be followed on Twitter using hashtag #helpjensurvive.

Sooqini is a time-sensitive, location-based mobile marketplace that enables anyone to buy and sell quickly with the people around them. Raj Singh, CEO of Sooqini said: “Sooqini is a trusted mobile marketplace, where sellers (or providers) earn money by fulfilling requests. Sellers are automatically notified when the right jobs are out there”. He added: “Buyers can request what they want, where they want it, when they want it and at what price. You only pay the seller when the transaction is fulfilled to your satisfaction.”

Marketing student from the University of Westminster, Paulina Dobrowska, has earned £200 from fulfilling requests. Paulina said: “I joined Sooqini and have already made over £200 from jobs done in my own time. It’s exactly what a student needs”, Dobrowska commented.

According to Sooqini’s research* there are more than 100,000 economically inactive London students. Mr. Singh added: “A service like Sooqini can help them supplement their earnings.”

Ends

Note to Editors

Sooqini Ltd. Was founded in 2011 after the founders wondered whether other people had similar time and location bounded problems – one of us wanted to get a tennis partner at 2pm in the afternoon during the week (don’t ask) – but couldn’t find a good way to find someone, since all his buddies were at work (you had to ask, didn’t you?)

They then realised that many of us, whether we are at the office, at home or on the go, have specific time – and location – specific needs that are going unmet. So a new company was born with an efficient and trustworthy way to get literally anything done quickly wherever you are, by simply using a mobile app and/or website. At the same time, people – anyone, including the un- or underemployed, as well as local businesses – could quickly get paid work sent to them. We decided to dominate the world, one city at a time, starting with London.

Sooqini is a new platform that just launched, and already has a few thousand users. Sooqini has been called an “eBay for anything” – using a mobile app or website, anyone can simply ask for anything – from services, goods and info at the price they specify. Buyers choose the best offer; pay when the request has been fulfilled and ratings/feedback are exchanged as on eBay or Amazon. PAs and their teams can use Sooqini in many useful ways, such as outsourcing personal errands, small office tasks, planning team events, etc.

Sooqini was recently covered in the Wall Street Journal

*Sooqini analysis based on Office of National Statistics, Title Link: “Summary of labour market statistics (last updated August 2012)

Sooqini is the Trusted Mobile Marketplace. Ask for ANYTHING on the go. Sell any of your skills and assets at your own time. Try it: www.sooqini.com. Sooqini is proud to be a member of the Global Entrepreneurship Programme of the UK Trade & Investment ministry.